Potted film reviews by Gary Anthony Cross

May 22, 2016May 22, 2016

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (2010)

The conclusion to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy sees Lisbeth recovering from her injuries at the hands of her murderous tormentor while Mikael and the secret service attempt to bring The Section to justice.

As finales go, this is a rather lacklustre affair. By far the most compelling aspect of the trilogy is Noomi Rapace’s central character of Lisbeth so you can understand why when I tell you that for the majority of the film she is doing little else but texting from a hospital bed. It mostly centres on the investigation of the members of The Section which consists of a lot of cold war conspiracy waffle spouted by old men and so makes for a very dry, somewhat dreary piece of entertainment. It of course is satisfying to see Lisbeth get the last laugh in one last gesture of defiance and justice meted out on those who exploited and abused her but this is such a long time coming.

There are a couple of half-hearted attempts at “action” that are little more than scuffles straight out of an episode of Inspector Morse, but otherwise The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is a rather over-long and slightly dull closing episode to an over-rated franchise.